This invention relates to a conveyor system that can receive products at a continuous rate and discharges groups of products without stopping or interfering with the reception of products. Individual products can be deposited on the surface of a conveyor system at extremely fast rates. When individual products are being deposited at relatively slow rates it may be possible to remove groups of products at the same rate however as the rate of depositing individual products increases it becomes impossible to remove groups of products at the same rate. When this occurs either the rate of depositing individual products must be decreased or the conveyor system must be stopped to allow the group to be removed. This is particularly true when the individual products are deposited on the conveyor in a systematic order and it is desired to maintain this order in the group after it is removed.
As an example, when bags of a snack food are fed from a form, fill and seal machine to a conveyor system they can be continuously deposited on the conveyor receiving surface in a systematic order. If it is desired to place these bags into a carton it would be advantageous to pick up the bags of snack food in groups that would fill a row in the carton. However, if it requires twelve bags to fill a row in the carton and the bags of snack food are being deposited on the conveyor system at a rate of one bag per second and it require three seconds to remove the group of twelve bags while maintaining the systematic order that they were deposited in, then the system cannot be operated continuously. If the conveyor system is stopped for three seconds to enable the group of twelve to be properly removed, then it will be necessary to either divert two packages or stop the form, fill and seal machine. Neither solution is acceptable.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a conveyor system that can receive products at a continuous rate and will permit a groups of products to be held for a period of time in excess of the per unit reception rate without stopping or interfering with the continuous reception rate of products.